Friday, 6 September 2013

Chapter 3. Fabrics and threads

In this chapter I have to sort out my fabrics, threads and other items such as buttons, beads and sequins etc. according to my chosen colour scheme. I started with what I had in store before dyeing and monoprinting more of my own.

I’ve photographed pages of my sketch book showing my work and have posted them here in order

I started by sorting out the various types of fabrics I had already in my studio in my colour scheme:

And then my threads, buttons and beads. I also coloured various other items using silk paint to give an interesting range of effects:

I needed to produce a batch of fabrics in analagous colours in each of the colours I’d chosen earlier and then another with the colours mixed to give a more diverse range:

The dyeing processes:

I then selected some of my dyed fabrics for monoprinting:

Some further monoprinting effects / experiments:

Pressed flowers fused to a dyed fabric with Bondaweb:

I will go on to make up some more dyed and monoprinted fabrics and to produce more effects especially using fabrics in colours not in my colour scheme to see how they take up the dyes.

I’ve also started stitching into some dyed fabric with my dyed threads for ch. 4 – it’s magical as all the colours are beautifully harmonious / vibrant. I’m very moved by colour so this is particularly exciting for me…………

About Me

I'm Carrie Donohoe and live in Brighton with my husband Bill, a freelance illustrator. I have always been fascinated by stitched textiles and embroidery and having exhibited in the Brighton Festival Open Houses for many years I decided to enrol for the Distant Stitch C&G Level 3 Embroidery Certificate in 2010. Under the guidance of my tutor, Sian Martin I've had the opportunity to further develop my skills in art and design which are then applied to embroidery. I've been blogging my progress regularly since and it's great to have the company of other Distant Stitch bloggers as I work through the modules.
It's time to update my profile as I have recently retired and, having spent all my working life within the NHS I'm delighted to have the opportunity to follow my passion for textiles. I'm now able to make good progress with the Certificate and experiment with my own work in between modules, especially the techniques I have learned at the Distant Stitch Summer Schools.